[Grades] Grades v. Blazers 12/20/2016

Who is the greatest player in Sacramento Kings history?

  • DeMarcus Cousins

    Votes: 27 49.1%
  • Chris Webber

    Votes: 21 38.2%
  • Mitch Richmond

    Votes: 3 5.5%
  • Dwayne Schintzius

    Votes: 4 7.3%

  • Total voters
    55
  • Poll closed .

Bricklayer

Don't Make Me Use The Bat
#1



Link to Boxscore

Starters
19min 2pts (0-4 0-2 2-4) 4reb 4ast 0stl 0blk 1To
Barnes ( D ) -- accomplished next to nothing out there, missed all his shots, we couldn't rebound, but did make a fe good passes to rescue the grade

41min 55pts (17-28 5-8 16-17) 13reb 1ast 1stl 3blk 5To
Cousins ( A+ ) -- I pondered a D or D- here, as bullies shouldn't win and all that. But...wow. the numbers practically speak for themselves as Cousins swatted swarms of chippy little gnats who's sole goal was to smack him until he did something stupid. Instead he destroeyd them, inside and out, and capped a spectacular 4th, scoring 17 points, knocking down big threes, almost getting throw out, and coming up with a huge block. 55 and the finish he was denied in last year's pivotal 56pt game.

14min 2pts (1-2 0-0 0-0) 0reb 0ast 0stl 0blk 1To
Koufos ( D ) -- barely playable as the Blazers took advantage of him inthe pick and role and he was entirely out of position to rebound. Missed a chippee from Cuz, got 1 single hook to go. Nothing else and not aroudn at all for the finish.

21min 8pts (2-4 1-3 3-3) 0reb 0ast 0stl 0blk 0To
McLemore ( D ) -- he scored some points, I figure that has to be worth something. But my lord was starting him a bad, and redundantly bad idea, again, as he got simply torched on defense by McCollum.

21min 10pts (3-8 0-1 4-5) 3reb 3stl 0stl 0blk 1To
Collison ( C- ) -- just another flat seemingly passionless performance. No idea why. Missed his shots, and no leadership or energy on defense. Badly outplayed by Ty this time.
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Bench

34min 11pts (3-5 3-4 2-2) 4reb 0ast 0stl 0blk 0TO
Tolliver ( B- ) -- the limitations with Tolliver are so stark that this is really pretty close to the best you can hope for. Did not board, did not help keep the Blazers off the board. But he hit three big threes for us, finally, and was part of the tough veteran defenisve crew that finally strangled the Blazers after half.

29min 16pts (6-8 0-1 4-4) 3reb 8ast 1stl 0blk 0TO
Lawson ( A ) -- possibly Ty's best game as a King. Came in off the bench and gave us everything DC was not, including passion and scrap. Got into the lane and created shots. Found his own shots, and hit them, and did a nice job on defense using his quickness to stay in the grill of the Blazers backcourt. We don't win without him stepping up as a Cuz wongman.

7min 6pts (3-3 0-0 0-2) 0reb 0ast 0stl 0blk 0TO
Cauley-Stein ( C- ) -- the good was that he got three of his finishes inside in his first half stint. The bad was that he once again was chairman of the boardless as he was completely non-physical and made Plumlee look like a superstar because he wouldn't chip him.

24min 5pts (1-3 0-1 3-5) 3reb 3ast 1stl 1blk 0TO
Temple ( B ) -- its hard to really go higher here because of the complete lack of offense, but Garret was another key bench scrapper who took over form the mess formerly known as Ben and really go up into McCollum and made him work the entire second half. As huge as Boogie was, we still lose if nobody ever slowed their guards. Garret did.

31min 11pts (4-7 1-3 2-3) 1reb 1ast 0stl 0blk 2TO
Afflalo ( B- ) -- surprisingly for a guy who had appeared to quit only a few days ago, came off the bench in this one with energy and a purpose. Was going to be our bench scorer, and as the only bencher other than Lawson who could create a shop, gave us a boost. Then in the second half took over at SF and played mini-Rudy through our long comeback. This si the Afflalo who can help us. Just redundant when Cuz and Rudy both on the floor.
 
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#12
Collison a season long of ineffectual. Ty only needs a good stretch to get him out of there

WCS no rebounds. Have to wait another year to see Skal?

Barnes done, no business ahead of Casspi

Why is Casspi sick when he should be showing if Gay is expendable

Why is Temple not starting

Can we get Malachi in there who has some future at the position
 
#18
Awesome game by Cuz. Just tremendous. A tale of two halves for the Blazers and the Kings tonight. Fortunately the Blazers couldn't hit any shots in the 4th and we could. Also cheers for Ty Lawson who played his best game as a King. Good thing, too, because Collison has been stinkin it up lately.
 
#19
Every time I'm ready to jump on the trade-Cousins bandwagon he has a game like this. Just when I thought I was out they pull me back in.
 
#24
I'm finding it very hard to feel good about Boogie's dominance in that game, because he displayed a frightening level of self-delusion and inability to understand the world around him.
First off, let's dispense with the doubt about him spitting his mouthpiece at the Blazer bench:

Now, I've watched the clip from every other angle, and it sure looked like he spit it out purposely, and then from this angle, it's without a doubt IMO.
It's a purposeful spitting of his mouthpiece, immediately after making the go-ahead basket and being given the And-1 for the probable win.

Seriously, he chose THEN to spit it out?!
Think about the lack of self-control and self-destructive behavior that represents..... from our 2-time All-Star, All-NBA, Gold Medalist franchise player.

I just can't find a way to defend it.
I can't imagine the NBA is going to turn a blind eye to this.
I keep thinking back to the words of Doug Christie during the broadcast, how he explained how the refs will screw you if you show them up and defy them in-game (even on black-and-white calls like goaltending).

But then Cuz doubled-down in the post-game tirade, showing he completely doesn't even remember what actually happened. He apparently doesn't know there is film which shows his actions.
He is revealing his psychosis for the world to see this year : he literally doesn't know what he does on the court.
(As much as I hate to admit it) Grant is right - he has mentioned how Boogie simply doesn't know when he pokes at the ball and thinks he gets it clean when he doesn't (similar to how JT wouldn't realize he fouled people).

While I enjoy his play, and celebrate the victory.............. I do not feel good about the level of self-delusion and destructive behavior Demarcus is showing this year, and I fear he is headed for a rather large screw-up/blow-up which will seriously damage his reputation/career very soon.

He's gotten lucky so far this year, the league is giving him as much rope as they realistically can; he's skating on thin ice but he doesn't even know it.
 
#26
A great game to watch. The Kings continue to build on their ability to close out games. I believe they have more "heart" than they have had in 10 years which is a direct reflection of their coach. They play with urgency and a certain ferocity. They used to play 3 good quarters and fade every night. Now they get really serious at the end of games.

Cousins and the bench won this game. There is not much good to say about the other 4 starters. In a sense the Kings are now composed of one Hall of Fame player and 10 guys that help him. There is little difference between the starters and the bench.

Special recognition of Ty Lawson playing like the days of old. He is overcoming his demons under Coach J. I really hope this continues.
 
#27
Mclemore got effed up by the blazers guards all game from what I saw in the game highlights

On a side note, I would love for "views from the other side" to make a comeback for this one
How about a sarcastic response?

Blazers front court got destroyed by Cousins. Must prove that they should be in the D league.

How's that one?
 
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#28
I'm finding it very hard to feel good about Boogie's dominance in that game, because he displayed a frightening level of self-delusion and inability to understand the world around him.
First off, let's dispense with the doubt about him spitting his mouthpiece at the Blazer bench:

Now, I've watched the clip from every other angle, and it sure looked like he spit it out purposely, and then from this angle, it's without a doubt IMO.
It's a purposeful spitting of his mouthpiece, immediately after making the go-ahead basket and being given the And-1 for the probable win.

Seriously, he chose THEN to spit it out?!
Think about the lack of self-control and self-destructive behavior that represents..... from our 2-time All-Star, All-NBA, Gold Medalist franchise player.

I just can't find a way to defend it.
I can't imagine the NBA is going to turn a blind eye to this.
I keep thinking back to the words of Doug Christie during the broadcast, how he explained how the refs will screw you if you show them up and defy them in-game (even on black-and-white calls like goaltending).

But then Cuz doubled-down in the post-game tirade, showing he completely doesn't even remember what actually happened. He apparently doesn't know there is film which shows his actions.
He is revealing his psychosis for the world to see this year : he literally doesn't know what he does on the court.
(As much as I hate to admit it) Grant is right - he has mentioned how Boogie simply doesn't know when he pokes at the ball and thinks he gets it clean when he doesn't (similar to how JT wouldn't realize he fouled people).

While I enjoy his play, and celebrate the victory.............. I do not feel good about the level of self-delusion and destructive behavior Demarcus is showing this year, and I fear he is headed for a rather large screw-up/blow-up which will seriously damage his reputation/career very soon.

He's gotten lucky so far this year, the league is giving him as much rope as they realistically can; he's skating on thin ice but he doesn't even know it.

Couldn't agree more. My prediction is that the NBA adds back the tech and ejection and he gets suspended for a game.
 
#29
Interesting poll Brick.

Maybe at the end of the season I can comfortably say Cuz is the greatest King of all time. I'm slow to change though, so maybe I put Mitch on a pedestal.
 

hrdboild

Hall of Famer
#30
Mitch will always be special because he was the first Sacramento-era Superstar. I'll always remember his patented toe-on-the-line "threes" as the ultimate metaphor for those-Kings-gonna-King perseverance and futility. Chris Webber had the skills, the smile, and the star-crossed backstory that made you want to root for him no matter what. He came to Sacramento against his will -- determined to get out as soon as possible -- and came all the way around to the point where he loves this city like no other. I mean, as a character arc that's practically biblical. His time here even ended in appropriately tragic "what if" fashion. But DeMarcus is on another level talent-wise. He needs to do his thing in the playoffs before he'll be fully appreciated but we've never had a player before who could challenge for "best player in the league" status and he's getting there.